“The penis doesn’t care about race, creed, and color. The penis wants to get to its homeland. It wants to go home.” – Larry David
Curb Your Enthusiasm, by all definitions, is the quintessential Jewish-American comedy, harking back to the East Coast sensibilities of great comedians from the past like Mel Brooks (who guest starred in Season 4), Woody Allen (who directed Larry David in Whatever Works), and Neil Simon –- even though the show takes place in Los Angeles. The show is essentially about a man (David) who comes from a historically oppressed group who becomes successful and now finds himself hanging out with the upper crust of American society, the very people who would have oppressed him if he were not successful. It’s a typical fish-out-of-water scenario which for David — and for the amusement of Curb fans — is the cause of many of his frustrations (look up Allen’s IMDb page and every one of his movies is a variation of the same theme).
Curb has dealt with, and satirized, the Jewish identity in the past, most memorably in the episode entitled “The Survivor” (where Larry is led to believe that his rabbi was bringing a Holocaust survivor over as a guest to dinner party he and Cheryl were throwing but instead he brings a former contestant from the reality show Survivor). In “Palestinian Chicken”, Arabs get some ribbing as well. As a matter of fact, the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict gets the Larry David treatment, and deservedly so.
First, let’s talk about the real elephant in the room: Larry David is dating again! Sure, his new lady, Shara (Anne Bedian, Lost), the owner of Al-Abbas Chicken, might be a tad resentful of what she perceives as transgressions being committed against Palestinians by Israelis (“Do you want to f*** me like the Israel f***s my country?!”, she says in bed) but what does a little hate between partners do except to make the sex that much better? (She’s even got Larry singing post-coitis).
What makes “Palestinian Chicken” one of the best Curb episodes since last season’s “The Table Read” is that fact that Larry could give a rat’s ass about the Israeli-Palestinian situation. Not only does he like the hot, venom-filled sex with Shara but her chicken is the best he and Jeff (Jeff Garlin) have ever had. It’s so good, in fact, that she is going to open up a second location, this one by Greenblatt’s Deli –- the best Jewish delicatessen in Los Angeles. The very idea of a Palestinian restaurant being near a Jewish restaurant pisses off Larry and Jeff’s Jewish friends (including a now-devout Marty Funkhouser, played by the scene-stealing Bob Einstein). In a brilliant satirical turn, they organize an anti-chicken protest, which is reminiscent of the last year’s hatefest that was spewed at the Park51 Community Center in Lower Manhattan by The TeaParty. (Nice, Larry David: spoofing two conflicts for the price of one.)
Though Jewish identity played a big part of tonight’s episode, the main theme revolved the relationships Larry and his friends have with the fairer sex. The Arab and Jewish women that are in these men’s lives are pretty similar. If it wasn’t for her ethnicity, Shara could fit right in with the acid-tongued Susie (Susie Essman) and her friend Eileen, who do nothing but bust their husbands’ balls. So much so that Eileen’s fed up — yet very frightened – husband, Ron, asks Larry to “socially assassinate” her (call her out bluntly, Larry David-style) for saying “LOL” instead of laughing at others’ jokes, in exchange for paying for the damage Larry had inflicted on his car. Larry agrees to the terms and tells Eileen off, but she can see right through him and realizes that Ron was behind the “hit”. To get back at him, Eileen starts an affair Eddie (Larry Miller), a friend who is also in Larry’s circle. (They even secretly meet at Al-Abbas, thinking that no other Jewish person would dare step into a Palestinian restaurant, and thus no one would see them and run and tell their spouses.)
Soon, Larry’s skill as a “social assassin” is requested by Sammy, Jeff and Susie’s teenage daughter Sammy, who is fed up with the weird sound her mother makes after taking a sip of whatever drink she’s holding in her hand. Larry refuses but Sammy blackmails him with the threat of revealing Eddie and Eileen’s affair to Ron (which would break up the friendship and thus their chances at a local golf tournament). Of course, Larry attempts the “hit” but it doesn’t go as planned and it ultimately blows up in his face.
The episode circles back to the Middle East conflict, ending with the big anti-chicken protest, led by Marty and Susie. Shara and the Palestinians hold their own pro-chicken counter-protest. Poor Larry David is caught in the middle. Both sides try to lure him to their causes: Susie curses at him, berating him into join the Jewish people while Shara promises him a threesome with her equally attractive sister if he joins the Palestinian side. It’s safe to say that the Palestinians have a more persuasive argument.
(Too bad Leon wasn’t in “Palestinian Chicken”. He would have turned that promised threesome into a foursome, minus Larry.)
